Chelsea return to winning ways against Fulham

LONDON - Chelsea bounced back from their first Premier League defeat of the season to see off local rivals Fulham 2-0 on Sunday, with goals from Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek putting the gloss on a mixed performance.

The home side dominated possession at Stamford Bridge and scored early through Spanish forward Pedro but struggled to find their rhythm and looked shaky until substitute Loftus-Cheek settled their nerves with a late second. Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri enjoyed a dream start to his tenure in England but a chastening 3-1 defeat to Tottenham last week stung him badly, prompting a series of post-mortems with individual players.

Sunday’s hard-fought win lifted Chelsea into third place above Spurs, in action against Arsenal later in the day. The home side, welcoming former manager Claudio Ranieri back to Stamford Bridge in the Fulham dugout, were quickly into their stride against their neighbours and were ahead inside four minutes. N’Golo Kante -- publicly criticised by his manager for his positioning in the match against Spurs -- was instrumental in the opening goal, dispossessing Jean Michael Seri in the middle of the pitch and feeding the ball to Pedro on the right side of the penalty box.

The winger stepped inside onto his left foot and fired the ball into the far corner. Pedro’s strike was Chelsea’s 1,000th home goal in the Premier League -- they are the third club to reach the landmark after Manchester United and Arsenal. Chelsea dominated the remainder of the first half, with Sergio Rico saving smartly with his feet from Olivier Giroud shortly before half-time but they failed to convert their dominance into clear-cut chances.

Meanwhile, Arsenal produced a relentless attacking performance to overpower Tottenham and deservedly win a pulsating north London derby at Emirates Stadium. Unai Emery’s side extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches, moving above Spurs into the top four, with a display that reflected the outstanding work the Spaniard has done since succeeding Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal’s fast start drew early reward when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put them ahead from the spot after Jan Vertonghen’s handball. Yet Spurs were ahead before the break. Eric Dier glanced home Christian Eriksen’s free-kick to equalise, sparking a melee involving players from both sides with his celebrations in front of Arsenal’s fans, before Harry Kane scored from the spot after Rob Holding was penalised for a challenge on Son Heung-min. The Welshman set up Aubameyang’s magnificent finish and the France striker’s deflected shot beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from the edge of the area to put Arsenal ahead with 16 minutes left.